Navy conducts first series of drone and manned fighter jet operations

Los Angeles Times

Published 7:03 pm, Monday, August 18, 2014

Photo: Northrop Grumman Corp., Associated Press

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/The U.S. Navy's unmanned X-47B conducts flight operations aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71). The aircraft completed a series of tests demonstrating its ability to operate safely and seamlessly with manned aircraft. Operating alongside an F/A-18, the X-47B demonstrated two successful launch and recovery sequences. The Theodore Roosevelt is currently underway preparing for future deployments. less

/The U.S. Navy's unmanned X-47B conducts flight operations aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71). The aircraft completed a series of tests demonstrating its ability to operate safely and ... more

Photo: Northrop Grumman Corp., Associated Press

Navy conducts first series of drone and manned fighter jet operations

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The U.S. Navy said its jet-powered, bat-winged X-47B drone has conducted carrier deck operations and performed maneuvers alongside an F/A-18 fighter jet, marking the first time manned and unmanned aircraft have operated together on the same carrier.

Navy officials hailed the test flights of the experimental drone, which were completed Sunday on the Theodore Roosevelt in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, as a milestone in carrier-based naval aviation.

"Today we showed that the X-47B could take off, land and fly in the carrier pattern with manned aircraft while maintaining normal flight deck operations," said Capt. Beau Duarte, program manager for the Navy's unmanned carrier aviation office, in a statement.

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Combat drones used by the Air Force and CIA are controlled remotely by a human pilot. The Navy drone is designed to carry out a combat mission controlled almost entirely by a computer. A human pilot would design its flight path and send it on its way. A computer program would guide it from a ship to the target and back.

Unlike the Predator and other propeller-driven combat drones, the X-47B is stealthy and jet-powered.

"This cooperative launch and recovery sequence will be repeated multiple times over the course of the planned test periods," the Navy said. "The X-47B performed multiple arrested landings, catapults, flight deck taxiing and deck refueling operations."

The drone has a 62-foot wingspan and can fly higher than 40,000 feet. It has a range of more than 2,400 miles and can reach high subsonic speeds.